A set of twins was born to a surrogate mother in Michigan. The surrogate mother gave the twins to a couple who covered her medical expenses for carrying the babies, but then she decided she wanted the twins. Who should get the babies?
Neither the birth mother or the adoptive parents are biologically related to the twins. The sperm and the eggs came from anonymous donors. This is a situation that's testing the boundaries of a field known as third-party reproduction, in which more than two people collaborate to have a baby.
After two miscarriages and five failed rounds of in vitro fertilization, Scott and Amy Kehoe looked into surrogacy. The Michigan couple purchased eggs and sperm from an anonymous donor and connected with Shelley Baker who agreed to carry the baby and gave birth to twins.
But at the hearing to transfer guardianship, Baker learned that Amy Kehoe, 41, was arrested for minor cocaine possession and diagnosed with an unspecified psychotic disorder nine years ago. Baker was upset by the information but allowed the Kehoes to adopt the babies.
A month later Baker changed her mind. She wanted the babies back.
Kehoe says that she was upfront with Baker about her past, and Kehoe's psychiatrist declared Kehoe fit to be a mother, saying she had taken her medication faithfully for nine years and never missed an appointment.
But because Michigan is one of five states where surrogacy contracts are not recognized, the Kehoes had to return the babies to Baker. (California is one of six states that allows individuals and couples to enter into surrogacy contracts; click here to see all state laws.)
Amy Kehoe told GMA that the Bakers' actions are a case of legal "kidnapping."
"It took me a long time to just come to the decision. ... They're our babies," Baker told GMA. "We had to take our babies back."
Melissa Brisman, a reproductive lawyer who has handled about a thousand surrogacy cases, told GMA that she believes the babies belong with the Kehoes, even though Baker says she didn't know about Amy Kehoe's medical and criminal history.
"It doesn't justify her keeping the babies," Brinsman told GMA. "She was still compensated for her expenses, she still agreed to hand the babies over. She just became judgmental of ... their ability to parent without all that much evidence. It was almost like she ... just decided that because this person had a mental illness, that meant she couldn't handle the children."
What do you think?
Should a surrogate mom have the right to ask for her baby back? Is this a case of legal kidnapping?
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